BRASILIA, Sept 12 (NNN-AGENCIES) — Former Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro has been sentenced to 27 years and three months in prison, shortly after a majority of a Supreme Court panel voted to convict him on charges related to an attempted military coup.
On Thursday, four out of five of the justices had found Bolsonaro guilty of trying to illegally retain power after his 2022 electoral defeat to President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva.
Justice Carmen Lucia said there was ample evidence that Bolsonaro acted “with the purpose of eroding democracy and institutions”.
A fourth judge, Justice Luiz Fux, broke with his colleagues on Wednesday and voted to acquit the 70-year-old former president of all charges.
Currently under house arrest, Bolsonaro faced up to 40 years in prison after being found guilty on five charges, including leading a “criminal organisation” to conspire to overthrow Lula.
Bolsonaro has maintained he will run for president in 2026, despite Brazil’s top electoral court barring him from running in elections until 2030 for spreading unfounded claims about Brazil’s electronic voting system.
The Supreme Court also convicted seven co-conspirators, including former defence minister and Bolsonaro’s 2022 running mate Walter Braga Netto; former Defence Minister Paulo Sergio Nogueira; Bolsonaro’s former aide-de-camp Mauro Cid; his military adviser Augusto Heleno Ribeiro; former Justice Minister Anderson Torres; former naval chief Almir Garnier Santos; and ex-police officer Alexandre Ramagem.
Bolsonaro, a former army captain and paratrooper, became known for his defence of Brazil’s two-decade military dictatorship after being elected to the back benches of Congress in 1990 in the early years of Brazil’s democracy.
Bolsonaro maintains a solid political base within Brazil, and the verdict is expected to be met with widespread unrest.
About 40,000 of his supporters took to the streets of Brasilia over the weekend to voice their discontent, supporting his claim that he is being politically targeted. — NNN-AGENCIES
